Energy Codes Shaping Insurance Rates

If you haven’t already heard of the Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP), we are a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the adoption and implementation of modern energy codes in states and local jurisdictions. BCAP is funded primarily by the Department of Energy and sponsored by the Alliance to Save Energy, the National Resources Defense Council, and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. These organizations sponsor BCAP because energy codes are one of the most effective ways to ensure a minimum level of energy efficiency in all new and renovated construction. Buildings are responsible for nearly 50% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, and in the United States, the built environment swallows some 48% of our natural resources. Over 20 million new homes and other buildings will be built in the United States over the next 20 years, and this is a conservative estimate. These three environmental groups know that we need to do a better job with buildings, and energy codes are a reliable way to achieve positive environmental change. A few years ago, BCAP began to engage the insurance industry in a conversation ...